“Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo”: Snubbing Kyrie Irving Over ‘Drama,’ Charles Barkley Picks His Current Favorite NBA Players

Recently, Houston Rockets legend and NBA analyst Charles Barkley appeared on the Bill Simmons podcast. Asked a range of questions about the current NBA, the conversation eventually led to his favorite players to watch. Barkley ended up picking the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic. He went on to claim that while Kyrie Irving was a “hell of a player,” there was too much drama surrounding the current Dallas Mavericks man. Barkley made the claims during the August 25^th episode of the Bill Simmons podcast.

Both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic have managed to lead their teams to impressive championship runs in recent years. The two have played at an MVP level in the past few seasons and managed to win their rings without forming a superteam around them.

Charles Barkley claims Giannis and Jokic are his favorite players to watch in the NBA

Barkley was asked his opinion on the current NBA landscape, where players tend to form superteams in order to win championships. Chuck was of the opinion that quite a few of the current stars tend to create drama around them.

Barkley claimed that the likes of Giannis and Jokic do not create the same kind of drama. He suggested that he was impressed with the way the two led their teams to championships in recent years:

“Out of all the BS that goes on in the NBA, what the Nuggets and the Joker accomplaished, just made me feel good man. No superteams, no drama, with Kyrie, he is a hell of a player but there is drama. Joker and Giannis, they make me feel good about my sport.”

While Jokic won his first MVP award last season, Giannis is a 2-time MVP who led the Bucks to the title in 2021. The two are on their way to becoming bonafide franchise legends, and do not create the kind of drama Kyrie Irving has tended to create in recent years. At the same time, Chuck also seemed to recognize Irving’s quality, claiming that he was a “hell of a player.”

Barkley criticized Kyrie Irving after his antisemitic comments

Irving was accused of making antisemitic comments via an Instagram post earlier this year. The controversy led to a range of criticism from NBA personalities, which included Chuck.

Barkley claimed that Irving’s “freedom of speech” defense lacked logic and that he could not insult people and then use it to defend his comments. Barkley said that Irving “dropped the ball” with his comments, and has been generally critical of the Mavericks’ star.

“People have the right to feel and say what they want to, we have freedom of speech, but there are repercussions when you say certain things.”

Charles Barkley says the NBA “dropped the ball” on Kyrie Irving and the action it took surrounding his antisemitic tweet. pic.twitter.com/t7ZmUqXNOw

— CNN (@CNN) November 15, 2022

It is clear that Chuck simply wants Kyrie to focus on his game. The former Cavaliers and Celtics star has obvious star quality, but has been consistently inconsistent in recent years.